


In The Morning.

by diamondgore



Category: X-Men (Comicverse)
Genre: ( kind of ), Canon Compliant, Exactly What It Says on the Tin, Free Verse, M/M, Sharing a Bed
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-08-15
Updated: 2018-08-15
Packaged: 2019-06-27 21:49:13
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,287
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15694035
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/diamondgore/pseuds/diamondgore
Summary: Warren and Bobby have been friends for a very long time. Their old habit of sharing has a tendency to come back to them.





	In The Morning.

**Author's Note:**

> There are some slight spoilers for Iceman ( 2017 ) in here, but other than that, I don't think there's any. Also, while this is complacent, canon confused me a little bit so the timeline might be a little off. 
> 
> I tried something different with the writing style because I'm testing new things out, so sorry if it sounds a little off.

The fan in Warren’s little nook of the Jean-Grey School was running on high. It wasn’t because of the warm summer weather they were experiencing, Warren didn’t mind the heat too much, unlike Icarus his wings could not drip like wax. His body was extremely well adapted to the heat, he had grown up in the warm air of the Manhattan summers. He knew the warmth caused by the cars, and the overcrowded populous too well. 

 

The fan was running loudly, almost overworked, to the brink of breaking. Warren can’t force himself out of the bed to turn it off. He would much rather stay under the sheets with Bobby. 

 

Warren’s sheets are white silk. Bobby hated them because they’re so soft. He often complained about how he can’t go back to sleeping on his own bed after sleeping in Warren’s bed because of how soft they are. Warren never commented, he liked having Bobby in his bed, even if they were just lying there together. 

 

He wished Bobby didn’t have to leave.

 

There was a sort of comfort with Bobby. He didn’t know how to describe it other than a warm afterglow in the chest, the last time he had felt it was during his high school years. 

 

Warren had last felt it during confession, where he had wept while he was being forgiven for his sins. This was after he had grown his wings and become a person of his own. There was a fear of judgment when he first started speaking, but it soon felt like there was a higher power touching his soul, allowing him to speak about his pain and where his body ached. There was something deep inside of him that had been healed, and he was forgiven for everything that he had done. He wept as he spoke, but it was a wave of solace that had washed over him. 

 

For a few moments, everything was fine. There was a few moments of quiet. 

 

He wasn’t religious, especially not after being part of the X-Men for so long. There couldn’t so much terror in the world where God had existed. But the feeling of overwhelming serenity had lingered for years after the confession. He hated to admit it, but whenever he had been pushed to his limit he thought of that moment, a sliver of time where everything was fine. It didn’t feel as good as the first time, but it was better than losing all hope. 

 

There wasn’t a God in Warren’s eyes, at least not in the biblical sense, but there was some higher power, something more that had given him that serenity, he knew he couldn’t have achieved it on his own. Part of him knew it was because he had purged himself of everything he had held inside of him for eighteen years, that had to have had allowed him to heal, even if it was for a little bit. 

 

He hadn’t felt it again until Bobby told him about his sexuality. When Bobby opened up to Warren about being gay, Warren cried. There were a few tears that fell from his eyes before he realized that he was in fact crying. There was a clarity that overwhelmed him so much--he had cried. Bobby was more than confused when it had happened, until Warren softly replied with the words:

 

“Maybe I am too.” 

 

Bobby didn’t know what to do, he never did when Warren cried. He had awkwardly comforted Warren by pulling him into a hug, but Warren’s pathetic sobbing caused him to cry too. It was a moment that they had both decided to never mention again, even if it made them feel like they’d both been cleansed. They no longer had to hide, from each other at the  _ very least _ . 

 

After that, Warren had felt secure around Bobby, the weight he carried on his shoulders was gone and the knots around his stomach loosened. There was safety in numbers, and there was safety in Bobby. It was embarrassing to admit, but Warren was slowly if not surely, falling in love with Bobby. He wasn’t sure if Bobby held any feelings from him other than the fact that ‘he was cute’, as any people felt that way about him. 

 

There was a fear of Bobby’s love being superficial, craving Warren only for his beauty, as it was only skin-deep. 

 

Warren knew on the inside, he was ugly with all that had happened to him. He was killed and brought to life so many times he wasn’t sure he existed. He had rotted his feathered wings and was stripped of his metal wings. He had been reborn then forced to give it up for his memories. Warren’s insides were surly being gangrened, there was no doubt about that. There was no more light in Warren, and he was frightened it would scare Bobby. There was no way to fix such a thing that no longer existed. 

 

Warren often thought about it, if this was truly himself. Or if it was simply an interpretation of how other people viewed him. His heart had ceased many times over, his brain surly had been affected too. The light seed had swiped his memory clean, and for a short time only a hollow version of himself existed. 

 

It was so terrifying to return after being gone for so long. 

 

Despite the uncertainty for Warren, they had been sharing the bed for a few months now. Half because Warren was lonely, and half because Bobby was depressed. 

 

There was an inability to move on after Scott had been killed--had  _ died _ . To both of them, despite everything that had happened, he was a brother to them. They both couldn’t begin to imagine what Alex had felt losing his blood-brother. But losing another one of their original team members was hard, especially when their alternate selves parade around in one team. They both wished for a simpler time. 

 

The should have never broken up the original team. 

 

Sharing the bed halted for a few months when Bobby found a boyfriend. Bobby didn’t want Judah to feel jealous, but he had missed sharing the bed with his winged friend. Warren wanted to be happy for Bobby, but he hoped they weren’t serious. However, he still felt bad when the relationship had fell through the cracks. 

 

He had given him the evil eye, unknowingly. Warren thought about putting them back together, but he’d seem like an overbearing friend, trying to put puzzle pieces that didn’t fit together. Warren only wanted for Bobby to feel happy after being tormented for so long. 

 

For now, Bobby had returned to his best friend’s bed, and they spent more than just a few hours each night together, sometimes the nights bled into the mornings. Neither of them minded it, they had nothing better to do. Schooling, kids, everything, it wasn’t important as their time together. 

 

This wasn’t the first time they had fallen into the trap of each other’s comfort. It had happened before when they were younger, when they were Xavier’s first class. 

 

Their bedrooms were right across from each other, so there was no need for them to sneak around, only for Warren to slip into Bobby’s room after curfew. They had done it for weeks without Xavier’s knowledge, or at least he didn’t let on that he knew their midnight activities. They would try to keep quiet as Bobby shared his collection of comics with Warren, excitedly trying to explain the lore behind each one. On more than one occasion Warren had to slip his hand onto Bobby’s mouth so that they wouldn’t get caught. 

 

At some point Bobby had shown Warren some of his original work, it was crude, scribbled in pencil, but there was potential for it to be something more than just unpolished. Bobby could have been an artist if he wasn’t a mutant. 

 

Warren didn’t know what he would’ve been if he wasn’t born with wings. 

 

On some occasions Warren was able to sneak in a bottle of wine, and not the cheap stuff that Xavier put on display, but the expensive Sherry hidden in the cellar. Bobby would state that he hated the taste but still drink with him, straight from the bottle. Warren couldn’t be caught stealing Xavier’s expensive glassware too, the wine was enough. 

 

On those nights, they didn’t do much but talk and dream. There were occasions where Warren had found himself tangled up in Bobby’s arms after a night of drinking, when he had gotten up before Bobby, but he childishly stayed there instead of getting up. They were a few cherished moments, the calm before the storm for Warren. 

 

Bobby stayed quiet and forced himself to sleep a while longer, just so Warren could stay there. He knew Warren shied away from attention otherwise.  

 

Xavier probably knew about these moments, Warren had tried to convince himself otherwise, but Xavier had read their minds before. He knew private information about the X-men that they could ever come clean about it themselves. He probably knew what Warren was feeling much before he could acknowledge it.  

 

They had spent hours of their lives together, and everytime they were together Warren thought of uprooting everything and leaving. It was a fantasy world he had created, coping with the crushing reality of being a superhero. They put everyone they loved in danger like that, they put themselves in positions that were incomprehensible to everyone else. There had to be a higher level of caution with everything, a higher level of sincerity with every word. 

 

Life could have been much easier if they were allowed to live. 

 

“We could just run away, you know.” Warren said, quietly. He wasn’t sure if Bobby was asleep or still snoring into the sheets. “We could leave the X-men. We could leave all of this behind and start anew.” 

 

Bobby heard him. He lied motionless on the bed so that he wouldn’t disturb Warren, assuming he was still asleep. But he was surprised at the soft tone of voice Warren used. Bobby thought of letting it go, assuming Warren had just wanted to talk to think out loud.

 

“Where would we go?” Bobby asked, admittedly he was still half asleep, but he wanted to know. “Is there anywhere we could go?”

 

Warren didn’t expect him to answer. The question lingered in the air like a foul perfume, but he knew Bobby wanted an answer. 

 

“I don't know. I was thinking somewhere in France. Nice or Normandy.” Warren answered. It was something from the fantasies he had created as a teenager. His fantasies almost always included a little bakery that they ran together, despite the fact that Warren never learned how to bake. There were many skills that he had never got the chance to gain due to his privilege.

 

“France? I can’t speak French.” Bobby replied, now sitting up in bed. He rubbed his eyes and looked over at his friend who was still lying down on his stomach. His wings were tucked in, and his face was pressed against the pillow. 

 

“Anywhere but America.” Warren said, frowning. His face scrunched up into a frown when Bobby began getting up. “Somewhere quiet, somewhere that’s far away from everyone we know. We could start over there.” 

 

There was a question that Bobby wanted to ask, but he wasn’t sure how to phrase it, but it was because he didn’t want to know the answer. “Who would come with us?”  He deeply wanted the answer to be:  _ just you and me _ . 

 

Bobby would be lying if he said that he was over his crush on Warren. It was something over a decade old, but he still hadn’t managed to bury it. Even with other men, Bobby found himself thinking about Warren. He chalked it up to concern, he was only concern about his friend, and that’s why he had plagued his thoughts so often. 

 

Well, part of it was concern, as Warren had a tendency to disappear when things got bad, he managed to hide himself away in plain sight. Hiding behind his wealth and extravagance instead of dealing with things. It was easier to numb himself than face his problems. Bobby didn’t want to bring up the fact that he’d been disappearing more often recently, but it was the truth. 

 

Bobby was always worried about his best friend. They’d created a distance in their own relationship that hadn’t been fully transversed. It felt like they were miles away even as they were closer than most lovers were in bed. 

 

“To be honest, I don't know. I’ve only ever thought of taking you with me.” Warren said it so smoothly. But the answer was definitely like playing russian roulette, he wasn’t sure if Bobby thought it would be odd for Warren to want him, and  _ only him _ . 

 

“You’re good with money.” Warren attempted to make the situation less tense, less awkward for Bobby to respond to. “And it would be fun to have you around, you know?” 

 

Bobby looked away, shifting his gaze from Warren to hide the smile on his face. He chewed on the bottom of his lip. Behind him,  Warren was starting to finally get up, shifting from his lying down position to sitting up on his knees. 

 

He extended his hand and placed it on top of Bobby’s shoulder, he was afraid he’d upset Bobby with his answer. 

 

“I’m sorry. Is that not what you wanted to hear?” Warren asked. He wore a worried look on his face. 

 

Bobby turned around slightly so that he could show a little bit of his smile. “No, it’s just exactly what I wanted to hear.”


End file.
